The present invention relates to an adaptor device for electrode catheters, and for bipolar electrode catheters in particular.
The art field of heart surgery embraces numerous types of cardiac catheters designed for connection at one end, generally by way of a flexible tube functioning as a biocompatible outer sheath, to an artificial pacemaker implanted in the body of the patient, and carrying a terminal electrode at the remaining end which can be anchored positively to the ventricular cardiac muscle.
This particular type of catheter also incorporates a second electrode distanced and insulated from the first, positioned so as to occupy the atrium once the terminal electrode is anchored. The terminal or ventricular electrode consists generally in a sharp point affording elements such as will penetrate and thus establish a continuous and secure contact with the cardiac muscle; once implanted in this manner, the electrode is connected to a first pole of the pacemaker by way of a spiral-wound, electrically conductive wire.
It is being found currently, where patients require the replacement of an existing pacemaker rendered unreliable by reason of its low charge, irregular operation or malfunction, that problems can arise due to incompatibilities between the connectors of electrode catheters implanted in the past and those of more recent design; reflecting the ever greater technological advances being made in this field, in effect, the newer catheters are much smaller than their predecessors as the overall dimensions of the newer pacemakers also become much smaller.
Remembering that the ventricular electrode becomes embedded in time beneath a layer of organic tissue and cannot be removed (such a step is inadvisable from the medical standpoint), it happens that the solution adopted in present-day surgical practice is almost invariably one of implanting a completely new electrode catheter in the cardiac cavity for connection to the new pacemaker, and simply leaving the former electrode in place, unused, alongside the replacement.
As an alternative expedient, the prior art embraces adaptor-reducer type connectors by means of which to fashion a mechanical interface between the existing pins of a previously implanted electrode catheter and the receiver contacts of a replacement pacemaker; inevitably, this reflects a compromise from technical and medical standpoints alike as the new implant is impoverished somewhat by the large dimensions of the mechanical components utilized to effect the interface.
The object of the present invention is to overcome the problem outlined above by providing an adaptor device that can be fastened to the unattached end of a bipolar electrode catheter already in situ and used to make the requisite electrical connection to pacemakers of the latest generation; such a device will be simple in embodiment, swiftly implanted in surgery, and able to ensure a suitably dependable connection.